Graphic courtesy of Briarwood Volleyball
Battle of 119 #2 - 2
The Battle of 119 will take place Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. Graphic courtesy of Briarwood Volleyball.
Briarwood Christian School's volleyball program will take its rivalry with Oak Mountain outdoors next week, headlining an outdoor doubleheader dubbed the "Battle of 119" on Briarwood's football field.
The event, set for Monday, Sept. 28, will open at 6 p.m. with Indian Springs facing Westminster-Oak Mountain, followed by Briarwood taking on Oak Mountain at 7:30 p.m. Briarwood head coach Chris Camper said the later start time is intentional, built around the setting sun rather than playing through the afternoon glare.
"We'll probably get started around 7:15, 7:30, and just an opportunity for everybody to come outside and do something kind of neat," Camper said.
Vestavia Hills hosted an outdoor event on Aug. 29, believed to be the first of its kind in high school volleyball in Alabama, which ran matches throughout the day. Camper said he is hoping to eliminate a few variables teams faced that day, including the sun. The sun should not be a factor by the time Briarwood and Oak Mountain get started.
Matches will be best two-out-of-three sets.
The portable court itself carries some Briarwood history. Camper said the school is renting it from a local club and is one that was once used in Briarwood's gymnasium, years ago.
"That actual court that has BCS and Briarwood's logo and stuff on it was sold to a local volleyball club. And we're renting that exact court and bringing it back out to Briarwood to play on," Camper said.
Setting up the court will require significant manpower, with volunteers gathering the night before to prepare the field.
"We're going to get the court loaded up in a truck with a bunch of dads," Camper said. "That's the biggest thing when you take on something like this, 'it's all hands on deck' is not even enough [to describe it]. We're bringing in coaches from other sports just to help, because we know it's going to be three or four hours of work on Sunday night to get this court set up."
Camper said the timing on the calendar was deliberate, banking on cooler late-September temperatures to keep the court stable on top of Briarwood's turf field.
"Part of my thought process for the end of September and not August was that the temperature high will be 85 to 86, something like that, and the low will be 60 versus 100 during the day," Camper said. "And I'm hoping that 15-degree difference in temperature will help the court not have to move and settle."
Briarwood's administration and football coach have both been supportive of hosting the event on the football field, according to Camper.
"Our administration's been incredibly supportive of this," Camper said. "Coach [Matthew] Forester with football is all in on putting it on the field and has been really supportive of helping us do that."
Camper wouldn't commit to this becoming an annual tradition, but the motivation behind the event ties back to a broader push to grow the sport's visibility.
"The main factor for me is I want to continue to do my part to grow the game," Camper said. "It's still hard to get the kind of support from fans and to get people interested in seeing volleyball for the first time. And I've always felt like our sport is so much fun to watch, but you got to give it a chance."
Camper said Indian Springs and Westminster, the two smaller programs sharing the night, stand to benefit from the exposure as much as Briarwood and Oak Mountain.
"When you're a small school, getting exposure for any type of an event is difficult," Camper said. "Them getting to be on that field on the same night, with two bigger schools playing I think is good for their kids to see volleyball at that level, and it's also good for their fans to really get to see their daughters play in front of that kind of environment."
Camper said all four coaches involved, including Oak Mountain's Anna Claire Harris, Westminster's Alex Lipperd [a former Briarwood player and assistant coach] and Indian Springs' Jordyn Box, were enthusiastic about the idea from the start.
